Youth soccer team subject to racist abuse

Queens Park Rangers under-18 coach Paul Furlong was right to take his players off the pitch after they were allegedly subjected to racist taunts last week in a friendly in Seville, Spain, the club’s CEO Lee Hoos said Wednesday.

QPR, based in London, was playing AD Nervion in a pre-season game Aug. 8 when its players were allegedly on the receiving end of racist abuse. After one of the QPR players told Furlong about the incident, the coach instructed his players to leave the pitch and the match was abandoned.

“We take a very strong stance against racism and will not tolerate one of our players being subjected to the despicable comments experienced,” Hoos said in a statement.

“I applaud Paul Furlong and his staff for reacting in such a manner and doing everything within their powers to protect the players. I am also very proud of our Under 18s who showed such maturity in the face of unacceptable provocation.”

Hoos also called on Europe’s soccer governing body UEFA to take strong action.

“Had this incident occurred in England I have no doubts the issue would be dealt with swiftly with a strong punishment by the FA,” he added.

“Unfortunately, it seems some countries have a long way to go in this respect and I urge UEFA to take the strongest possible action as incidents of this nature are happening far too often.

“There is an opportunity here for UEFA to make a strong statement. I hope it is an opportunity they take.”

Nervion did not immediately respond to a request for comment by email.

British anti-discriminatory body Kick It Out said it would always back teams that leave the pitch due to discriminatory abuse.

“Kick It Out’s head of development Troy Townsend visited Queens Park Rangers just last month to help prepare players and staff for what may happen on tour,” it said in a statement.